GST input credit mismatches: why they happen and how to prevent them

Input tax credit problems rarely appear suddenly. They accumulate quietly over a month and surface when returns are prepared.

Common causes

• A supplier has not filed or has filed late.
• An invoice was recorded with a wrong GSTIN, date or amount.
• A purchase bill reached accounts after the cut-off.
• The same invoice was booked twice, or not at all.

Reconcile monthly, not at filing

Compare your purchase register with the auto-generated GST statement every month. Differences are far easier to resolve while the transaction is fresh and the supplier remembers it.

Keep a supplier follow-up list

Maintain a short list of unmatched invoices with the supplier, amount and date raised. Review it weekly.

Let software do the matching

When purchase entries come from the same system that handles stock and payments, many errors never occur, and matching becomes an exception report instead of a manual hunt. Always confirm current rules and due dates against official notifications.

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